5:5. And one of the elders.—The deathbed prophecy of Jacob. It is the identification of this elder that enables us to recognize the other twenty-three.—Rev. 4:10.
Saith unto me.—“Judah is a lion's whelp. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.”—Gen. 49:9, 10.
Weep not: behold, the Lion.—“The Holy One, and the Just.”—Acts 3:14; 22:14.
Of the tribe of Juda.—“The great prize, for which Israel had been longing for centuries, was won by the Lion of the tribe of Judah. (Heb. 7:14.)”—B. 85.
“For an illustration of latter time assumptions, note the fact that a late pope, upon ascending the throne, took the title of Leo XIII, and shortly after subscribed himself ‘Leo de tribus Juda,’ i. e., ‘The Lion of the tribe of Judah.’ ”—B. 316.
The Root of David.—“It was not the pre-human Logos, nor yet the man Jesus, that was David's Lord and David's Root; but the resurrected Messiah.”—E. 151, 136; Isa. 11:1; Rom. 15:12; Rev. 22:16.
Hath prevailed to open the book.—“When our Lord Jesus had proven His loyalty to the Heavenly Father by His obedience, ‘even unto the [ignominious] death of the cross,’ then and thereby He did prove Himself worthy of every confidence and trust.”—E. 39, 37.
And to loose the seven seals thereof.—“Great was the favor bestowed upon the Just One of the tribe of Judah, in being permitted to open the seals; and great is the privilege of those who are permitted to look thereon as the seals are opened.”—Z. '02-332; Rev. 5:2; 6:1.
5:6. And I beheld, [and lo,] in the midst of the Throne.—“In the bosom of the Father.”—John 1:18.
And of the four beasts.—“The express image of His person.”—Heb. 1:3.